Freedom from fear: Why the First Amendment trumps the Second Amendment

Seattle Times by David Sirota | Aug. 22, 2009 (Opinion)

We should worry about gun-toting protesters and public political events. The First Amendment ethos guarantees people — whatever their politics — a fundamental right to participate in their democracy without concern for physical retribution. It is the primary amendment because America was first and foremost created not as a gun-owners' haven, but as a place to shelter citizens from oppression. Full Story »

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Chris Finnie
3.1
 by Chris Finnie - Aug. 23, 2009

Unless they reference other writings, I am always leery of people who claim to divine the intent of the framers. I don't trust crystal balls. Besides, the gun-toting types claim the same knowledge. So it seems a dangerous path. Sirota also ignores what I thought the most interesting quote, "forcefully resist people imposing their will on us through the strength of the majority." This is a rejection of democracy, which strikes me as being a more important issue.

“forcefully resist people imposing their will on us through the strength of the majority.”

This is democracy as constituted by our laws—majority rule by vote or by representation. If they don’t like it, may I suggest Iran? There, a small number of clerics control the majority. Perhaps they’d like that better. But force of arms must never trump the will of the majority, Sirota is right about that.

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